Currently short-chain polyols such as ethanediol, propanediol, and butanediol are produced either from
the petroleum feedstock or from the starch-based food crop feedstock. In this study, a combinational
process of enzymatic hydrolysis with catalytic hydrogenolysis for short-chain polyols production using
corn stover as feedstock was developed. The enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated corn stover was
optimized to produce stover sugars at the minimum cost. Then the stover sugars were purified and
hydrogenolyzed into polyols products catalyzed by Raney nickel catalyst. The results show that the yield
of short-chain polyols from the stover sugars was comparable to that of the corn-based glucose. The
present study provided an important prototype for polyols production from lignocellulose to replace the
petroleum- or corn-based polyols for future industrial applications.